Concrete is the most widely used engineering material in the world. It is estimated that the present world consumption of concrete is 11 billion metric tons per year. (Concrete, Microstructure, Properties and Materials (2006, McGraw-Hill)). Concrete is a term that refers to a composite material of a binding medium having particles or fragments of aggregate embedded therein. In most construction concretes currently employed, the binding medium is formed from a mixture of a hydraulic cement and water.
Most hydraulic cements employed today are based upon Portland cement. Portland cement is made primarily from limestone, certain clay minerals, and gypsum, in a high temperature process that drives off carbon dioxide and chemically combines the primary ingredients into new compounds. The energy required to fire the mixture consumes about 4 GJ per ton of cement produced.
Because carbon dioxide is generated by both the cement production process itself, as well as by energy plants that generate power to run the production process, cement production is currently a leading source of current carbon dioxide atmospheric emissions. It is estimated that cement plants account for 5% of global emissions of carbon dioxide. As global warming and ocean acidification become an increasing problem and the desire to reduce carbon dioxide gas emissions (a principal cause of global warming) continues, the cement production industry will fall under increased scrutiny.
Fossil fuels that are employed in cement plants include coal, natural gas, oil, used tires, municipal waste, petroleum coke and biofuels. Fuels are also derived from tar sands, oil shale, coal liquids, and coal gasification and biofuels that are made via syngas. Cement plants are a major source of CO2 emissions, from both the burning of fossil fuels and the CO2 released from the calcination which changes the limestone, shale and other ingredients to Portland cement. Cement plants also produce wasted heat. Additionally, cement plants produce other pollutants like NOx, SOx, VOCs, particulates and mercury. Cement plants also produce cement kiln dust (CKD), which must sometimes be land filled, often in hazardous materials landfill sites.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions have been identified as a major contributor to the phenomenon of global warming and ocean acidification. CO2 is a by-product of combustion and it creates operational, economic, and environmental problems. It is expected that elevated atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and other greenhouse gases will facilitate greater storage of heat within the atmosphere leading to enhanced surface temperatures and rapid climate change. CO2 has also been interacting with the oceans driving down the pH toward 8.0. CO2 monitoring has shown atmospheric CO2 has risen from approximately 280 parts per million (ppm) in the 1950s to approximately 380 ppm today, and is expect to exceed 400 ppm in the next decade. The impact of climate change will likely be economically expensive and environmentally hazardous. Reducing potential risks of climate change will require sequestration of CO2.